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Von der Leyen elevates climate brief in new European Commission

Climate action is getting a promotion in the EU, with the policy brief elevated to one of three core portfolios in the new European Commission.

Ursula von der Leyen, the former German defense minister and incoming European Commission president, unveiled her picks for the commission's top jobs on Sept. 10, putting veteran Dutch member of the European Parliament Frans Timmermans in charge of the "European Green Deal," set to contain plans for a massive program of green investment across the bloc in order to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

Timmermans will be one of three executive vice-presidents in the new commission, alongside eight vice-presidents, marking a significant elevation for his policy brief. The commission was previously led by 28 commissioners with a series of vice presidents. The climate job will include working to ramp up emissions reduction targets for the bloc while also leading international climate negotiations to spur other governments to action.

"I want the European Green Deal to become Europe's hallmark," von der Leyen said at an announcement in Brussels. "At the heart of it is our commitment to becoming the world's first climate-neutral continent. It is also a long-term economic imperative: those who act first and fastest will be the ones who grasp the opportunities from the ecological transition."

Von der Leyen's plan already contains around 20 different policy proposals, according to Simone Tagliapietra, a research fellow at the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank. Those include the creation of a sustainable investment plan, the introduction of a carbon border tax, the partial transformation of the European Investment Bank into a climate bank and the adoption of a new industrial policy for Europe.

Wendel Trio, director of Climate Action Network Europe, a green advocacy group, applauded von der Leyen for "putting climate policy upfront as a top priority."

"Giving greater power to the commissioner responsible for the climate, who will now oversee many other portfolios, is a real opportunity to increase climate action in all sectors of the economy," Trio said.

Timmermans was first vice-president in Jean-Claude Juncker's commission and unsuccessfully competed for the presidency as the center-left candidate. In his new role, the social democrat will lead climate action policy by heading the Directorate-General for Climate Action, one of the EU's many policy departments.

In an outline of her priorities for the job, von der Leyen said she expects Timmermans to work toward increasing the EU's 2030 emissions reduction target from 40% to at least 50% and present a climate law to enshrine a bloc-wide net-zero emissions target for 2050 — both within his first 100 days on the job. By 2021, the emissions reduction target for 2030 should rise to 55%, she said.

The net-zero goal was one of the signature initiatives of outgoing energy and climate action commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, but an agreement on the target was scuppered by opposition from Eastern European countries in June.

Cañete also oversaw the adoption of the EU's Clean Energy Package, which raised renewable generation and energy efficiency targets and imposed tighter rules for capacity markets, among a host of other changes. Implementing the package will fall to Kadri Simson, a former economy minister in Estonia who von der Leyen has picked as her new energy commissioner.

Simson's focus will lie on working closely with member states to set out their national energy and climate plans, which outline EU countries' individual contributions to the new targets, von der Leyen said. Given the increased ambition of her European Green Deal, Simson should also "assess the need to review" the clean energy package, von der Leyen added.

Giles Dickson, CEO of industry group WindEurope, said Simson will have "a full in-tray of challenges" to facilitate the commission's net-zero ambition, including driving ahead the electrification of heating, transport and industry.

Von der Leyen's picks still need approval from the European Parliament before the European Council can formally appoint the new European Commission.